Comments on: Aurora – From London

By: Patti

Patti — Fri, 17 Aug 2012 17:48:01 +0000

Wow. So true. Your thoughts on this are so true, sobering and said. So many people rush to call the perpetrator of these events “evil”. They are human beings–terribly flawed human beings.

Withdrawing from the melee is sometimes the best way to handle these things, I agree. Sit and face the sadness and anger instead of heaping anger and criticism on people is the hardest thing to do, but the better option. Well done.

By: Stereo

Stereo — Wed, 25 Jul 2012 15:37:56 +0000

Too true. Sometimes we just need to sit and feel and think of others before airing our views.

By: Stereo

Stereo — Wed, 25 Jul 2012 15:33:46 +0000

The things the media choose to focus on are nothing short of bizarre sometimes. There is all this hoopla surrounding the colour of the boy’s hair and I couldn’t help but think “since when have we not been dying our hair all the colours of the rainbow? What does that have to do with anything?” But I suppose it’s just another example of people trying to make sense out of the senseless.

We have to do better. And I think talking about it is a start.

By: Stereo

Stereo — Wed, 25 Jul 2012 15:25:42 +0000

“and the tragedy got lost in the hurricane of agendas.”

That was so perfectly put.

By: Stereo

Stereo — Wed, 25 Jul 2012 15:25:10 +0000

I think disagreement can be healthy as long as minds and hearts stay open. And I am thankful that this seems to be what we have achieved here.

By: Stereo

Stereo — Wed, 25 Jul 2012 15:23:43 +0000

Missed you too! So happy to see you in my comments again.

By: Stereo

Stereo — Wed, 25 Jul 2012 15:23:22 +0000

While I think there’s a time and place for the gun control and mental health discussions, I really don’t think the immediate aftermath was that time. People were in shock and disbelief and it was (and still is) just so terribly tragic.

By: Stereo

Stereo — Wed, 25 Jul 2012 15:19:28 +0000

I have to tell you, Brandee that after Columbine and after Virginia Tech and other gun-related atrocities, the UK basically has a number of conversations:

1. Why does the USA even have guns at all
2. Why the USA is reluctant to re-evaluate gun control
3. Won’t anybody in the USA think of the children?
4. The UK is better because we don’t have guns, here are the reasons why

and somewhere towards the bottom of the pile:

5. The poor victims and their families

I read some really vicious things over the course of Friday and Saturday and it made me sad.

By: Brandee

Brandee — Tue, 24 Jul 2012 19:41:48 +0000

Like Elizabeth, I always wonder how things like this play outside of the U.S. We tend to be very focused inward here in the States. It takes something like this to make us stop and wonder if this is what it is like to live in places where violence is the norm, rather than the exception. It’s comforting to know that our feelings at a time like this are in many ways the same.

By: Elizabeth - Letters from a Small State

Elizabeth - Letters from a Small State — Tue, 24 Jul 2012 18:39:28 +0000

Hey Matt, hey Stereo. Thanks for the post. I was biting my nails before I read it, waiting for the “British people looking down their noses at Americans” mentality that I heard so much of whilst living in London. So I really appreciate this kindness, which is exactly spot on… that is was a person with anger and flaws and some kind of sickness that committed the crime, and not a country.

And Matt I go into myself too… how do we prevent this personal angst in ourselves? I am not sure… I know I’ve seen some pretty impressive rage come out of my suburban-mommy mouth. I try not to get too worked up about it, because repressing it seems to be worse.

Thanks so the space to just let us all be ourselves and know that if anyone of you ever wants to just scream, have at it… do it. We all need it.